Lucknow: An Uttar Pradesh government website created to enable people to light an earthen lamp digitally amid the Deepotsav in Ayodhya on Friday evening crashed due to high participation in the digital event.

The website "www.virtualdeepotsav.com" crashed due to heavy traffic of people on the site, an official spokesperson said on late Friday evening.

He said the site would be rectified soon and the people will be able to light "diyas" virtually from Saturday morning.

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Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): A local MP/MLA court on Saturday rejected a plea seeking a voice sample of Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by a BJP functionary against the Congress leader, and posted the matter for next hearing on May 11.

The plea, filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra through his counsel Santosh Kumar Pandey, had sought Gandhi's voice sample for a forensic test to compare it with an audio clip.

After the petition was dismissed, Pandey said they would file a revision plea before the sessions court against the order.

The court rejected the plea after hearing the arguments of both sides, including Gandhi's counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla.

The matter dates back to 2018 when Mishra, a local BJP leader, filed a defamation suit over Gandhi’s alleged objectionable remarks targeting Amit Shah while campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections.

After five years of legal proceedings, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi in December 2023.

The Rae Bareli MP surrendered before the court in February 2024, and was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 25,000 each by a special magistrate.

On July 26 last year, the Congress leader recorded his statement before the court, claiming innocence and calling the case a political conspiracy.

Earlier this year, multiple hearings were postponed due to a strike by lawyers and the ill-health of Gandhi’s counsel.